Makun was shaken, terribly so.
He understood why she had warned against having such knowledge at the beginning of the journey. It felt like starting a game you were already losing, except the loss was not points. It was you. Either you dissolved into nothingness, or you lived long enough to become a monster that controlled you.
If you had already climbed tiers, moved from Disconnected to Apprentice, then you had no other choice but to keep walking. But right now, knowing the fate reserved for mystics, he could still feel the part of himself that wanted to ask if it was worth it.
Makun breathed slowly.
Calm down. Continue or not was not the question. He had no choice in the matter. If he decided to stop, then what. People he did not know would continue to take advantage of him.
At the end, he would die like a dog, knowing he did nothing to change his fate.
The question of identity was one he would address later.
For now, the questions.
He steadied himself and breathed in and out, trying to quiet his racing heart, his thoughts, and the fear sitting in his belly like weight. He had to choose what mattered most, not what sounded deep.
How to choose a route. How to start ascending tiers.
After regaining control of himself, he looked up at the veiled lady.
"At what tier am I right now?" He paused. "How do I choose a route. How do I start climbing?"
Those were the questions she expected.
The veiled lady sat opposite him and looked surprised again. Not at the questions themselves, but at how fast he pushed the dread aside and forced himself back into function.
Is it because he has not started yet, she thought.
Maybe because he had not properly stepped onto the way of mysticism, he could not feel the underlying issue the way someone at higher tiers would. But she noticed the fear in his eyes. She could tell he had a crisis.
He has a strong mind, she concluded.
"Your current stage." She nodded faintly. "I expected that." Her gaze moved over him like a scan. "Right now, you are at the very bottom. A first grade initiate. In all honesty, you are not even a proper first grade initiate."
Of course. What did I expect.
"People properly practicing mysticism are sure of what route they follow, then the sub-route, and so on," she said. "You are routeless."
"The reason I consider you a first grade initiate is simple. You are aware of the Veil. You are aware of spiritual energy. You can see particles. That is enough to mark you."
"How do I choose a route," Makun asked, once he understood what she meant.
"You can choose whatever route you want," she said, gesturing as if it was obvious. "Excelling on the route you choose is the complex part."
"Do not forget. To climb, you have to understand reality, the Source, the universe through the route you are working. If you cannot comprehend the layers through your route, then you will not advance."
She watched him for a moment.
"The key metric to choose a route is aptitude."
What she said gave him a clean frame.
Someone with a low IQ choosing the Scholar Route would not climb at the same pace as someone with a high IQ walking that route. Their brain would not process the same amount of information, would not process at the same speed, and would not stay flexible under pressure the way a sharper mind could.
Achieving minor comprehension to move from one grade to another would become a chore. Major comprehension to move from one tier to another would feel impossible.
If they had to choose a route, they would be advised against the Scholar Route.
It was the same with the Warrior Route. Someone fit, flexible, and strong would understand it faster, because their body and instincts already lived closer to that lens.
"The more apt you are at something," she said, "the more you are going to understand the deeper layers of that thing. The closer it brings you to the Source."
"What about rogue practitioners," Makun asked. "What happens when they start on a route by mistake."
He had thought about this while listening to her, and while remembering what the book had said.
The book made it clear. Bloodlines and elites held advantages over normal people. They enjoyed information and knowledge, libraries built over generations. Their choice of route would be guided. Some were prepared from childhood to walk a certain route, and that preparation became aptitude.
Families that walked only one route made it easier for their children to follow.
Cults, institutions, and the lower elite did the same thing. They guided their own, because a wrong route wasted years.
But what about rogues.
People who stumbled into mysticism with no mentor. People who did not know the Goal of a Mystic, did not know the identity crisis waiting ahead, and only saw power. People who walked into the Veil like it was a shortcut.
If they walked a route they were not supposed to walk, then what.
He wanted to know that.
"Good question," she said, then nodded. "Some are lucky and start on what they are best fit with. But if one starts walking a route they have no aptitude for, then they will not climb high enough on the mystic ladder. They will get stuck. Many of them get stuck at the Elite tier."
"That is why great families, institutions, cults, and the elite systems are always going to sit at the top," she added. "They have defined paths. Rogues play with luck."
"There are exceptions," she said after a moment. "People who only needed minor enlightenment to grasp something. Or a lived experience that changed them. Very few manage to climb to the Master tier after starting with a false route."
Makun still had more to ask.
The book had stated there were an infinite amount of routes. It called them branches. But most practitioners walked the seven great routes because they were the most documented, meaning enlightenment was easier to reach.
How did those who walked unique routes manage. Were they always guided. Did they stop early like rogues.
He asked the clean version.
"How about the unique routes not in the seven great routes."
"Similar to the rogues," she said. "Very few climb high, except if they are from a great family, or if they are tutored by masters following that route specifically."
Everything was clearer now. Aptitude was how he would decide what route he walked. What was it he understood well.
He had already started forming an answer in his head.
And that led to his next question.
Multi routes.
"How about if you are fit for multiple routes."
"It is possible to walk multiple routes simultaneously," she said.
"Many mystics do, but it is dangerous."
Makun watched her eyes. She was not trying to scare him. She was naming a rule.
"Why," he asked.
She did not hesitate.
"Divided Comprehension," she said. "Each route requires deep understanding of a specific aspect of reality. To split focus is to slow advancement in all paths."
"Conflicting Philosophies," she continued. "Some routes oppose each other philosophically. A Healer seeks balance However, A Devourer, one of those unique routes seeks consumption. To walk both creates contradiction. Your soul fractures."
"Entity Confusion," she said. "Entities recognize mystics by route. Walking multiple confuses them. Some reject you. Others fight over you. That creates instability."
"Ritual Incompatibility," she finished. "Certain rituals require purity of purpose. Route contamination makes them backfire. It causes spiritual damage."
Makun stayed quiet and let the weight land.
Then she told him the recommended path, like it was the only safe step that existed.
"Master one route to Tier 4," she said. "Elite. Then explore others."
"At Tier 4, your spiritual core is solid enough to handle multiple comprehensions without fracturing. Before that, attempting three or more routes simultaneously is suicide."
She paused, like she was deciding how much to add.
"Some routes combine," she said. "Some can be used together, and the result is more power. That is real. But it does not change the rule. You need a core first."
Makun exhaled slowly.
He understood the shape of it now.
He was not choosing a class. He was choosing what kind of comprehension his life would be built on. He was choosing what would hold when the Veil pushed back.
And she still had one minor question left.
How to start practicing